Information About Fitness and Exercise

5 Ways to Stay Fit in College

This guest post was written by Elizabeth Cutten. You can find more of her work located at FindCollegeCards.com, a student credit card blog packed full with tips, tricks and more!

Getting good grades in college is a major concern for many college students, but what you’re also going to find out is that health is going to be a number one concern as well. If you’re going to go away to college for the first time, you definitely
don’t want to fall victim to the “Freshman 15”.

What is the Freshman15? This is a term that has been around for quite some time, and it basically means that most freshman on the college campus gain an average of 15 pounds. A majority of this weight is gained solely because of poor dieting, and
lack of exercise.

To avoid situations such as this, I wanted to give you 5 tips that you can use if you want to stay active, as well as not gain that
extra 15+ pounds!

Try to kick the drinking habit: While it may be tempting to party, I’m not saying that you can’t. What you’re going to want to do is watch what you’re drinking. Alcohol is jammed packed with calories, and if you’re downing a total of 18 on a weekend, where do you think this is all going? Try switching from the high calorie based beers to low calorie based ones.

Watch the junk food: It’s tempting to order a pizza, or Chinese three times a week, but what you’re going to find out is that this is just going to kick your butt down the long run. Even if you have a meal plan with your college, make healthy choices. Go for the salad, rather than the cookie. Eating healthy isn’t that hard, trust me.

Don’t eat at night: Try to make it a habit, and not eat after 7PM. One of the worst things that you can do is stuff your face before you hit the bed. If you think about it, you’re going to eat, then crash for the night. While your body does next to nothing, all these calories will just eventually become fat.

Exercise 30 minutes a day: Just try to make it a habit to exercise just 30 minutes a day. Most colleges have gyms, or if it is nice outside, try to ride your bike around campus, or even walk. Even walking class to class can more than enough. There are many exercises that you can perform to keep the body in shape.

Eat your three meals a day: Most college students skip out on breakfast, and most experts will tell you that this is the most important meal of the day. This is the meal that is going to get your brain, as well as metabolism churning. Be sure to eat something, even if it’s a bagel.

You’re going to find that staying healthy is going to take some work, but if you want to take care of your body, I would highly recommend that you set aside at least an hour a day to stay fit in college.